Any programmers here...?

rz30

rz30

rz30

Associate
Joined
5 Oct 2008
Posts
1,486
C#, C++ VB.NET etc...

Most programmer jobs say 2 years of experience required or so ... etc but not all, some are pretty vague on what you need.

So say you are self taught in some of these languages to a level you think is pretty high, you see a job ad and think you can manage it technically although you have no commerical experience, are you ever likely to get a job in this case, could you talk your way into smoe kind of trial period.....?

Any tips here...?
 
Perhaps writing a cover letter detailing apps/whatever youve created in these languages would demonstrate your ability. What have you done? Then including a cv...

if you sent this to enough companies im sure someone would give you a chance :)
 
I probably wouldn't hire someone that is self taught with no commercial experience. Generally because they have very little idea of program structure and the importance of copious amounts of notes.

The only way I would do it is if they could provide good examples of well written code but that would assume they got to interview stage.
 
I've got numerous programming languages/skills from university but not having the right experience seems to be a major thing for prospective employers.

Most jobs I see are looking for at least 2 years experience, which rules me out I'm afraid.

Bit of a catch 22, and there's loads of people in the same boat. If you do manage to even get an interview, count yourself lucky.
 
shoot1st said:
I've got numerous programming languages/skills from university but not having the right experience seems to be a major thing for prospective employers.

Most jobs I see are looking for at least 2 years experience, which rules me out I'm afraid.

Bit of a catch 22, and there's loads of people in the same boat. If you do manage to even get an interview, count yourself lucky.
Click to expand...

So you just keep trying or are you employed in another field......?

What level of programming skill do you have and in what languages?
 
A few points:

a) As RDM has stated - self taught doesn't demonstrate the ability to work in a team, or write code as part of a team.

b) However with 2 years that's grad material. They wouldn't normally be working unsupervised. So you may still have a chance. Especially if you sound like you're knowledgeable but not arrogant.

c) Job specs are what they'd like ideally and very few will match exactly. Often employers will look at people with minor mismatches. It depends on the employer and what they want.

d) Going through agencies mean that your CV will be chopped to something that just has bullet lists on the first page and then 1-2 pages after. Any covering note you'd write wouldn't be passed through.
Of course if you're contacting the company directly then do good covering letter.

Just be prepared for both talking ideas and written tests.

Everyone starts somewhere.

Edit: Graduate normally means at least a marker in terms of what is known and expected.. so go for it!
 
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rz30 said:
So you just keep trying or are you employed in another field......?

What level of programming skill do you have and in what languages?
Click to expand...

At the moment I'm sort of self employed, teaching a few people how to do stuff, which keeps me reasonably busy and gives me a little extra cash. I also set up the odd home network, fix the odd PC, that sort of thing.

I haven't looked at a job paper for a couple of months, tbh. I'm a bit unsure as to what to do next, which direction I want to take. I never have known that tbh, never really been driven.

I did an IT degree so had to learn quite a few different languages, C, C++, VB.NET, relational database stuff, HTML, Javascript, CSS. I don't know how I would descibe my ability in any of those but I can usually do whatever I want to, sooner or later.
 
GarethDW said:
Consider volunteering your time and skills to an open source project, then use that as experience - albeit non-commercial so some companies won't consider it.
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You mean an online open source project...obvioulsy...?

Got any suggestions where to start looking there?
 
OpenCL.

It may be a little new. However it has a lot of visibility and will be a technology of the future (ie highly parallel).

You may want to get a basis on compiler design (you could pick that up via GCC - just trace through the internals as there's plenty of documentation on it).
Next step is to look at parallel systems, GPGPU etc.

OR.. if your more web based - one of the many web service enablement technologies.

Just read a little about who is supporting it.
 
As mentioned, most companies are looking for software developers and not programmers these days. Do you have any experience writing test suites for your code? How about writing documentation?

Getting involved with open source projects is definitely a step in the right direction. I'd also suggest writing and selling your own applications via Apple's App Store or Google's Android Store. You might even make a bit on money via this route. ;)
 
Tunney said:
As mentioned, most companies are looking for software developers and not programmers these days. Do you have any experience writing test suites for your code? How about writing documentation?

Getting involved with open source projects is definitely a step in the right direction. I'd also suggest writing and selling your own applications via Apple's App Store or Google's Android Store. You might even make a bit on money via this route. ;)
Click to expand...

When i was learning C++/VB/Java at college i read looked at some open source projects and they where just streams and streams of code with no meaning to what each bit did, i know i anottaded the crap out my work, mainly because it made my code look better and a lot easier to understand when i came back to edit it later.
 
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